The level of nitrosamines in bacon is so high that these carcinogens have been discovered even in the vapors from fried bacon—you know the smell of frying bacon that everyone loves so much? Well, one of the more potent carcinogenic nitrosamines is in those fumes. You’re breathing it in.

In fact, if you’ve got to cook something like bacon and eggs, the barbecue people have the right idea—do it outdoors, in the fresh air. The amount of deposited particles deep into the lung of an individual indoors exceeded by up to ten times the amount received by an individual at the same time period outdoors.

Just don’t run around or play Frisbee or anything near the grill, as the number of deposited particles significantly increases with exercise, just because you’re inhaling greater lung volumes.

It’s kind of the secondhand smoke of the meat world.

What about tempeh bacon? Tempeh is probably the closest plant-based thing to cured meat; it’s a fermented soybean product. “Airborne Mutagens Produced by Frying Beef, Pork, and a Soy-based Food.” What do you think they found?

Airborne cooking by-products from frying burgers, bacon and tempeh, were collected, extracted, and tested for mutagenicity, the ability to damage and mutate DNA. The fumes generated by frying pork and beef were mutagenic, especially the bacon—found 15 times worse than the beef, but no mutagenicity was detected in fumes from frying tempeh burgers.

The researchers suggest that this may explain both the increased risk of respiratory tract cancer among cooks, as well as the lower proportion of deaths from respiratory diseases and lung cancer among vegetarians.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Dianne Moore.

The level of nitrosamines in bacon is so high that these carcinogens have been discovered even in the vapors from fried bacon—you know the smell of frying bacon that everyone loves so much? Well, one of the more potent carcinogenic nitrosamines is in those fumes. You’re breathing it in.

In fact, if you’ve got to cook something like bacon and eggs, the barbecue people have the right idea—do it outdoors, in the fresh air. The amount of deposited particles deep into the lung of an individual indoors exceeded by up to ten times the amount received by an individual at the same time period outdoors.

Just don’t run around or play Frisbee or anything near the grill, as the number of deposited particles significantly increases with exercise, just because you’re inhaling greater lung volumes.

It’s kind of the secondhand smoke of the meat world.

What about tempeh bacon? Tempeh is probably the closest plant-based thing to cured meat; it’s a fermented soybean product. “Airborne Mutagens Produced by Frying Beef, Pork, and a Soy-based Food.” What do you think they found?

Airborne cooking by-products from frying burgers, bacon and tempeh, were collected, extracted, and tested for mutagenicity, the ability to damage and mutate DNA. The fumes generated by frying pork and beef were mutagenic, especially the bacon—found 15 times worse than the beef, but no mutagenicity was detected in fumes from frying tempeh burgers.

The researchers suggest that this may explain both the increased risk of respiratory tract cancer among cooks, as well as the lower proportion of deaths from respiratory diseases and lung cancer among vegetarians.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Dianne Moore.

18 responses to “Carcinogens in the Smell of Frying Bacon”

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If only they knew. (This is an article where the admonishment not to read the comments is a good one, though I admit were I on FB I would be tempted to leave a comment with just a link to this article!)

I gave up bacon a long time ago – but I’d like to play devils advocate and ask about organic untreated bacon – because often people say to me that their bacon is fine because it’s organic, pastured and not preserved with nitrites.

I am thinking that problems may arise from exotoxins from the bacteria, and contaminants in the fat – but:

If you can smell it, it’s being forced down your throat. Passive Porking is the logical extension of Passive Smoking, particularly when tenants insist of frying up burned cadaver bits in buildings that share apartment units. Those nasty little bacon bits are crawling along the electrical wiring and hiding in your little toddler’s teddy bear, ready to leap out and force their way into his or her innocent little body as soon as the toy is picked up and hugged.

Remember, the Antismokers have taught us that “There Is No Safe Level” to airborne carcinogens, particularly those that that are seen as especially harmful by some subcultures and religions. If we can ban smoking in one’s apartment there’s no reason at all that we can’t ban frying or roasting corpses. Those who enjoy munching on dead bodies will still be free to do so: no one is stopping you from having bacon for breakfast or a hamburger for lunch! We’re merely seeking a reasonable compromise: you have to prepare your ghoulish feast by boiling the bacon or burger instead of frying it!

What are the carcinogens in bacon? Every one says there bad but I have yet to see a list of these carcinogens. Been eating bacon all my life, taste is out of this world. So please does any one really know or is this another attempt to get people to start thinking some thing else that authorities are manifesting?? remember politician’s lie regularly

For those who liked it long ago, or still like eggs and fry ups, there’s fake sausages and fake bacon!! Made from delicious non-meat products like soy, it doesn’t come under the WHO’s Class 1 carginogen-equal-to-tobacco attributes. Google fake bacon for brands. It’s tasty but I do find it gives me a little bit of indigestion. Enjoy!

Very interesting…. I’m curious, then, would wearing a mask while cooking help? And if so, what level of mask would be needed in order to adequately take care of the issue? And for those who are unlikely to be able to cook outside, making sure to keep the kitchen area well-ventilated? And what, by comparison of cooking techniques, effect would using an air-fryer, steamer, or infrared oven be instead, both as far as the quality of possible carcinogens in meat and fumes?

Will be thinking about possible alternatives for meat, in general, for people who can’t eat soy products. At the very least, I think I understand now why so much of the Mediterranean eating lifestyle’s vegetarian much of the year, with small inclusions of fish, eggs, and other meats when they have them, but a greater emphasis on having the vegetables be the main dish of the meal instead of vice versa. It’s a hard thing to wrap my head around and adjust to, though, and even more difficult when trying to work out what to eat on AIP (while being mindful of vit k and oxalate levels).